A Mercenary's Home Coming
by Guitar Solo
Summary: When Andrew attacks Corneria, General Pepper send out a distress call. The call is recieved by the Starfox team, an old friend of Fox's, and Krystal's home planet, thought to have been destroyed.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Starfox isn't mine, it's Nintendo's.

A Mercenary's Homecoming

The Starfox team sat in the lounge of the new Greatfox. Slippy sat on the couch, eating an apple, and he was over all very bored. No repairs to the Arwings or upgrades were needed. They were full of fuel but the ships have been sitting dormant on the flight deck for about 6 months now. He sighed and stood up to throw away his apple core. He walked by Krystal who was reading a magazine. Slippy looked at the clock. It read 9:47.

"Funny how you sit around all day and do nothing yet still feel tired, huh Slip." Krystal said as he dropped the core in the garbage can.

"Yeah, weird huh. Guess I'll be hitting the sack a little early tonight. Good night, see ya in the morning." He yawned and walked down the hallway to his room.

Krystal put her magazine on the table and brushed her blue bangs out of her eyes. She stood up and looked over at Falco and Peppy. Peppy as usual had fallen asleep in his favorite recliner. Surprisingly Falco was also asleep, stretched out on the couch, snoring softly. She looked over at Fox who had gotten up to get a drink of water.

"Looks like Falco hit it a little early too," He smiled one of his good natured smiles and got a water bottle out of the fridge and opened it, "I assume you'll be going to bed early to tonight also Krystal?"

"Yeah, why not, it will bring tomorrow a little sooner I guess." She came towards Fox and placed a small kiss on his cheek, "Goodnight Fox, looks like you'll be the only one awake tonight." Falco had usually stayed up with Fox while he made sure no late calls came in. He reinstated Krystal's words with a loud snore.

"Hehe, looks like I am doesn't it. I'll be in my room soon enough though. Goodnight." Krystal walked of into the hallway her tail swishing behind her. Fox couldn't help staring as the blue fox walked down the hallway. Krystal sensed this and turned her head. Fox quickly looked away blushing and tried acting busy. Krystal silently laughed and turned down the hallway to her room.

Fox started thinking on how to break the ice with Krystal. It was obvious they were more than friends. He just really didn't know how to approach it. The one area in life he wasn't experienced in was women. He shook his head and drank the rest of his water. He threw the water bottle from a fair distance into the trashcan. To bad no one saw it.

Krystal soon found herself in her room. The door silently shutting behind her. She couldn't understand Fox. He was interested in her that was for sure, yet he held back. Was he shy or was it something else? Krystal didn't know. Only time would tell.

* * *

Here it is better than my last attempt (I hope). Reviews please!

-Guitar Solo


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry I havn't updated since... forever! Lots of things have come up but I'm seriously goona try to get in a groove. Well heres chap 2.

Chapter2

* * *

Fox felt a little guilty for a moment, for staring, but man she was pretty! There was nothing else to do so he sat down and turned on the TV. As soon as the news anchor's voice filled the room Falco jerked awake. Fox watched as the avain stood up and stretched his back and looked at the clock. The green digits read 10:30. He looked at Peppy, then looked at Fox. 

"Every one asleep?"

"Except you and me," Fox said.

Falco blinked a couple more times and looked back at the clock once more before heading to bed. He quietly followed the same path down the hallway his friends had taken earlier.

Fox's mind wandered about. He started thinking about the lack of action with the team, then how it was efecting Falco and how he might leave again. Then he started to think about Krystal. Fox knew he felt a deep friendship with Krystal. And did Krystal feel the same way about him? She was the telepath, not him. He wandered around on the topic for a while. He really needed to get to know her. She'd been on the team for well over a year and a half yet all he really knew is that was from Cernia, which was destroyed, she was searching for the truth about her parents when the met during the Saurian conflict. As he tried to recall more stuff that he knew about Krystal, the more he tried, the more he relised how much he didn't know about her. Fox decided to try something. He'd ask her out to lunch. They were coming in towards Corneria and the timing would be perfect. It was just lunch, but he could get to know her and how she felt. He would ask her in the morning.

Fox got up slowly and turned off the TV. He walked past each of the team members rooms and checked the bio-scans. Slippy's and Falco's said they were asleep, Peppy's said he wasn't even in his room, but Krystal's said she was wide awake. So he knocked.

"Hey can I come in?"

"Sure", she siad.

Fox entered, she was stepping out of the bathroom. She crossed the room and gave Fox a kiss on the cheek. Just to shake things up a bit it seemed. Fox, now grateful for his red fur, spoke.

"Um, hehe, yeah..just seeing how you're doin'. Everyone else is asleep", he managed to choke out. Krystal smiled.

"Ya, Falco doesn't seem too well does he? he wants action so badly, I can sense it." She layed down on her bed.

"No he doesn't. And I'm afraid the only cure is a little action in the Arwing,and we don't need him leaving," He stated. They both were silent at the thought for a minute.

"Well I just came to check on yyou. See you tomorrow I guess." He started out the door. But Krystal got up and stopped him.

"Wait, you wanted to ask me something. Did you forget?"

"Hehe, yeah, Well I wanted to ask you...um.."

"Yess?"

"If you wanted to go to lunch tomorrow mabey, we're docking and it would be nice to get away for awhile, I mean if it's okay with you that is-"

"Sure", she said cutting him off, "I'd love to, meet you on the docks at 11:00?"

Instead of answering, Fox surprised not only Krystal but himself. Never in a million years would he believe he would do it until that moment. But he leaned forward an gently kissed her on the lips. A great kiss that any girl would appreciate. The let go gently and just looked at each other.

"That sounds nice, see you there." Fox said stepping out of the room.

The door shut silently as Krystal sat back down on her bed and Fox headed to his room. They both felt some sense of acomlishment as they the fell asleep. It finally seemed they were moving foward.


	3. Chapter 3

"I need to sleep more often." Fox said as he watched the clock at 2 in the morning. The thing was, he just wasn't tired. A bad habit he had picked up the last few months. But another reason he couldn't sleep, was he finally took the leap. He was going tomorrow, out to lunch with what has been his crush since he met her.

He smiled at the thought. Then he frowned. Fox had absolutely no idea what to do. When he was younger, he really didn't have time to do this kind of stuff. He and his dad, James, moved a lot.

Dad.

It was times like this he really missed him. He would know what to do. Dads always did. But, things haven't ever been the same after he was murdered. This was half the reason why he was a mercenary. To try and make the universe a better place.

Fox thought deeper. In a way, his father's death had caused a lot of things. Not all of those things were bad also. He found who his true friends were. Falco and Slippy and Peppy were there to help him back up. Plus, he found his true passion. The Arwing was a second home to him.

Plus, he met Krystal on his adventures. That was a very good thing.

Fox smiled a looked back at the clock. 2:47 in the morning. Maybe he could sleep now.

"Fox," ROB, the robot that helped run the ship had walked in.

"What's up?"

"I have received a distress call, do you want me alert the others?"

Fox jumped off the couch. He had been waiting for this moment for too long.

"Of course! Wait…It depends, how big is it?"

The robots voice dropped to a sad tone (as best as the AI could).

"It's from General Pepper."

Fox blanched. He looked at the robot for a second then took charge.

"Call the others now. Tell them what going on. Have them meet me in the hangar. _NOW!_"

He ran towards the main control room. When Fox reached it, he read the message. It was in a text form, encrypted to keep the enemy from knowing they alerted any one else.

It read,

_My name is General Pepper and we are in dire need of aide. Our capitol is currently under siege. We were over come by the strength of the opposing forces. Our radar and communications were almost completely destroyed by a giant EMP. If the capitol is successfully rescued, we will we make payment to any help that was given. Please hurry, time is running out. The universal coordinates are4657-9066-1234f. _

**End message.**

There was only one twisted mind smart enough to build a weapon that could take out all the communications of the capitol.

Andrew.

Fox ran towards the hangar with a determined step. The score will be settled here. Andrew had been too much trouble for Fox over the last years. It would be ended here and now.

The others were already on the wings of their Arwing ready to go. Fully suited, they awaited the orders from the captain.

"Rob, I can assume every ones been briefed on the problem?"

"Yes sir. I'm assuming hyper-drive laws in this sector can be abandoned in this emergency?" Rob answered. Laws placed did not allow large ships to "jump" in the area due to electro magnetic shock waves. But this should be an exception.

"Agreed, set course for Corneria."

He jumped in his Arwing. His crew silently followed suit. He heard the low hum as the Greatfox made a short "jump" through space. The planet suddenly appeared in the distance. They would be there soon.

"Hey Fox."

"Yes Falco."

"This feels like bad karma man. I've been hoping for action for so long. No, _wishing,_ for action. But not like this."

Fox let out a nervous laugh.

"Don't worry, it's has nothing to do with you. But by the sounds of it, it looks like Andrew is once again the culprit. So team, let's do a good job and finish him this time."

"Sounds like a good plan to me!" Falco answered.

Krystal contacted him on a private line.

"So much for our plans."

"Yeah, that's just great." Fox frowned. He forgot all about that. nothing ever went right.

"But you know what Fox?" Krystal said with a sly smile over the line ," I'd rather be doing this."

* * *

A short addition to my story (though I do think it's the longest chapter). But a start. I haven't been here since forever. Ill try to get more into this. Cause I want to finish this! Thanks for reading! 


	4. Chapter 4

Slippy's voice came over the radio.

"Everything's ready Fox, scans show that in the area that there's nothing but a bunch of debris. With the exception of one ship that is."

"Really?" Fox said as he looked at his radar. It showed one blip circling the general area.

"Let's pay who ever this is a little visit. Peppy, release all Arwings. "

"Sure thing Fox."

The hare typed in the commands in the computer. Soon after, lights on the launch pad turned dark red. Several alarms went off and lights flashed. The ship gave a deep rumble as the flight deck split in half, lowering out from under the Arwings. The lifts that held the ships in the air released, the Arwings fell for a short time in the artificial gravity. The infinite space in front of them loomed. The planet slowly came into view as the dropped away from the Greatfox.

"Fire up your engines team. We're headed in!"

"And we're off!" Falco yelled as all four engines we started up at the same time. They shot away silently from the mother ship. The team practiced barrel rolls and flips as they made their way toward the battle zone. They didn't need to be unprepared for their confrontation. And being in-active for 6 months, they needed to warm up.

Fox sat in his ship, trying to get a hold of the unknown craft near the outer atmosphere. So far he was having no luck, it seemed the communications on this ship had a block on it. That meant you couldn't contact them, they had to contact you. The only chance he had to speaking to this stranger would to get him or her to notice him.

"Team, stay back. I'm going to give this who ever it is a visit. We don't need to intimidate him."

"But what if this some one starts shooting at you? Do you need to go alone Fox? You do that quite often." Falco questioned.

"Then you can go in and blow him all to hell, you've done it on many occasions."

Falco smiled over the display on Fox's screen.

"Fine, just be careful. I might be a little rusty"

"Jeeze Falco, are you his mother?" Slippy teased.

"You know what? Your momma is so-"

"For crying out loud you guys, we haven't been in the ships for 10 minutes and your already fighting." Krystal said over the radio, half amused and half aggravated by their antics.

* * *

Fox sped over to the ship. He closed in next to it and got a good look at it. The make and model was foreign. But that wasn't the interesting thing about this ship. The interesting part about this ship was the fact that it was _overkill._ And that was exactly the name of the ship, in big, bold cursive letters across the hull. The white and green ship was slightly larger than the Arwing, and was more wide. It had 2 chain guns mounted under the ship, set side by side, and 2 more on each side of the ship. The ship had missile launchers underneath the ship, and two smaller additional chain guns on the nose, symmetrically set on each side. No lasers, the technology seemed to consist of bullets. A different technology from across the galaxy. Despite the lack of efficiency, it had one bonus. It could go easily through the electromagnetic armor that blocked most laser types.

Fox opened his communications and flashed two blue lights on the side of his ship, showing he wanted to talk.

His radio began to hiss and crackle as the computer connected and tried to get the right frequency. A green light appeared on his console, he was connected. A deep, smooth voice came over the radio.

"Well well well, if it isn't the famous Fox McCloud. Leader of the famous Starfox team. I take it your here to get some of the prize money?"

"No, this is my home planet. I don't have to have the money." Fox answered. The white ship circled over Fox's, stopping level with his ship.

"Good, if you had said yes, I would've blown your ass out of the sky. It's my home too. Funny, I decide to come back, my place is under siege. Oh, watch out, space debris."

Fox turned and lowered his ship under what was left of a fighter ship. He looked some more, the place around him looked like a greave yard. Metal was scattered every where.

"Did you do all this?" Fox asked.

"Yep. You've been up to a lot your self. I read about you every now and then. You quite the celebrity."

"Do I know you by any chance?"

"We might have went to college to together, the mercenary one. But you got the short-cut and went straight to stardom. I had to work my way through." The stranger said it without any malice or anger about it. It was sort of a matter of fact tone, which was true. Fox had only gone to 2 of the 6 years required at the college. He went out into the war to defeat Andross after the death of his father. After it was all done, the government went ahead and gave him his license.

"But no hard feelings. I don't care. So you really don't remember me Fox?"

"No, but I'm assuming I should. You seem to know a lot about me. Why don't you turn you camera on, I'm just getting audio feed from you, no visual on my display."

"I can't because the damn thing broke," the stranger swung his ship under Fox's. His chain guns had started spinning," And besides, looks like we had company. By the way, the name's Layne."

Layne shot forward and Fox saw what he meant. Coming out of the atmosphere of Corneria was several hundred rebel fighters. Fox shot his ship forward and radioed the others.

"Get ready team, they're coming."

The rest of the Starfox team fell into formation next to Fox. Krystal on his right, Falco on his left, and Slippy following up behind to provide cover. Layne's ship sped recklessly ahead. Slippy spoke over the radio

"So who was that guy Fox?"

"He said his name was Layne, acted like he knew me. Whoever he is, he's on our side."

"Layne…..Sounds familiar." Falco said frowning.

"Oh my guys, look." Krystal said with worry crossing her face. Fox looked closer at the planet. His mouth dropped open. What had first been a few hundred, had turned into an un-imaginable swarm. Hundreds of thousands of rebel fighter were coming towards them. Layne, who was further ahead, braked and slowed level with Fox's team.

"Oh…wow.." Layne's voice for the first time, slightly faltered. Krystal spoke up once again.

"Something's not right though. I can't put my finger on it…"

"Doesn't matter," Falco interrupted, "They're here!" He shot forward, gun blazing at the rebels. The rest of the team followed into the fray. Each of the mercenaries went forward, towards the planet.

Fox looked over and saw Layne at work. The pilot was a work of art. All 6 guns blazing, the bullet casings flying out behind the ship in the infinite space were a mesmerizing sight. He stared for a few seconds then his attention snapped back to the battle.

He dodged several shots fired at him and fired back at several ships. He missed every time. Frustrated, Fox fell into a chase with one of the rebels. The level of this pilot was immaculate. Every move was perfect. Fox struggled to keep visual of the ship, but it was going fast. Too fast for the kind of ship it was. It disappeared into the fray. He spotted another one to his left. Fox fell behind it and fired two quick shots right where the right engine should've been. The shots went _through the engine _and out into open space.

"What the, something's not right here."

"You notice it too Fox right? You shoot right where their ship is supposed to be, and it's like no hit, no matter how close you are."

"That's exactly it Falco."

Krystal interrupted their thoughts.

"Fox, I'm only sensing a fraction of what I'm seeing. It's like they don't exist."

"That's it! I know, I know, I know!!"

"Well spit it out Slip, don't leave us hanging." Falco said impatiently.

"They don't exist, they're illusions of some type! Holograms! Yeah, that's it "

Fox looked across the battle field. Something had to be generating the holograms. If they destroyed that, then the decoys would disappear. He needed to find something that looked important. Something that was probably guarded by real fighters. Krystal's teleapathy would be perfect.

"Krystal."

"You need me to find the generator Fox?"

"Yes, it will have many guards guarding it, real guards. It shouldn't be to hard."

"I'm on it Fox."

"Falco, Slippy, you guys need to be careful alright, you all don't which guys are real or not. We all probably need to pull out until Krystal finds the generator."

They turned their ships around and headed out to the outer edges of the battle field. The Fox remembered Layne, how was he doing? He tuned the radio connection on.

"Layne, can you hear me? What's going on?"

"Nothing much Fox, you know more than half of these are holograms right?"

"Yeah, how do you tell which is which?"

"Does your ship not have heat vision?"

Fox looked at his panels. As far as he knew, Slippy had not installed such a thing in the Arwings. He radioed back to Layne.

"Nope, I don't see anything like that. We usually use radar…Come to think of it, my radar isn't working either."

"Radar jammers. I haven't spotted any yet, but once I do I'll blow them all to pieces. By the way, what's your friend looking for over here?"

"The hologram generator. We get rid of that we might be able to get to Corneria. Would you mind giving her a hand?"

"Sure. Oh, and ask your mechanic wiz or who ever knows your ships best if he installed electro-conductive sensors on them. See ya."

Before Fox could ask what any of that meant, Layne sped of in his ship after Krystal. Fox returned his radio to the other channels to tell the others.

"Krystal, Layne here is gonna give you a hand. I'm sending the radio frequency to you now."

"Sure thing Fox….Okay…I've got it now. Thanks."

Fox diverted his attention to the mechanic of the team.

"Slippy, you know anything about a, uh, electro-conductive sensor of some type?"

Slippy started typing commands on his computer. He looked back at Fox.

"Yeah, want me to turn all of yours on for you?"

"Sure, what does it do?" Falco asked.

"It high lights areas of increased areas of electromagnetic currents. Like the ones found on...most…space…fighters", Slippy covered his face, "I'm such a goof."

"Don't worry about it; you're definitely smarter than me. If it wasn't for you I'd still be chasing holograms. Now get it turned on buddy and let's go kick some ass, alright? It's no biggie"

"Alright.", Slippy's face brightened, "here it is."

Fox turned back to his console. He looked back out to the space in front of him. Everything had turned a light blue tint. Some of the decoy ships flew by, but several of them had dark areas of blue around the engine. The amount of rebel fighters that seemed to be real, was very little compared to what they had first thought.

"Okay guys, let's head back in."

The rest of the team shot off. Fox pressed a few buttons and turned his frequency back to line that Krystal and Layne were on.

"How's it going guys?"

"Uhhh, I haven't found anything that might be-"

"Fox! Layne! I've found it!" Krystal interrupted, "Oh, but they've spotted me. I'm going to need assistance. These fighters are different, and there's a lot. They're all real too. Layne, you're closest to my location. Can you help me?"

"Sure. Hey Fox, my ships kinda slow, so you might as well come and help too. You might actually make it before me."

"I'm on my way."

Fox honed in on Krystal using his locator. It wasn't as accurate as radar, but it was the only thing he had. Krystal and the fight came into view. Layne was nowhere in sight. Krystal was right when she said the ships were different. They were an oval shape and turned very quickly. She looked like she was in big trouble. If you got too close to the ship, it would juke and fire at you very quickly. If you got too far, it would reactivate a shield.

In the middle of it all was a round object with spikes on it. Electricity jumped from the tip of each one. It was the hologram projector. Fox dove in. He fired 3 shots towards one of the ships that Krystal was fighting with. It was firing at her, so it had it's shield down. The shots made contact, ripping through the outer hull and inside the ship. It explode, sending shrapnel across the space and clattering against Fox's ship.

"Thanks Fox. Now get to that generator!"

Fox aimed at the generator. He charged his shot and released it. The beam ripped through space towards their target. A the last possible moment, the hologram generator sent up a temporary shield. The beam was ineffective. It absorbed the shot. Fox didn't have all day to wear down the shield. Layne arrived with the answer.

"Move, I'll take it from here."

The stranger moved in and warmed up his guns. He fired at the enemy at a rate of over 150 rounds per second, each bullet ripping through the useless armor of the rebel fighters. He honed in on the generator. Two missile fell out from underneath his ship. They fired straight and true. The missiles detonated on impact, ripping through the generator, the explosion sent the pieces spreading out across the infinite space.

Fox looked around. Where there had once been thousands of fighters, there was now nothing. They had succeeded. Or more or less Layne had. Fox radioed the others.

"Everyone okay?"

"Yep, we're all fine Fox." Krystal answered.

"Good, let's head to Corneria and get to the bottom of this."

"Wait, where's Layne?"

Krystal was right. Where was Layne? He seemed to have disappeared. Fox looked around, he hoped he wasn't hurt. Then Rob came onto the radio.

"Fox, a XG Niner class ship has just landed on our flight deck. It looks damaged. Shall I grant the pilot access?"

"Go ahead, he's a friend. Make sure he's okay."

"I will let Peppy know, the pilot will be taken care of."

Fox returned back to his team. It appeared that all damage on their ships were minor. The would be able to continue on towards Corneria.

"Good news team, Layne's alright and it looks like we have enough resources to move on."

"Jeeze, How come that name sounds familiar? I just can't put a finger on it" Falco was troubled. The name brought back bad feeling for some reason.

Yeah, tt does ring a few bells for some reason, but let's try to get to Corneria now. We'll make proper introductions later."

They headed towards the capitol. Falco still seemed riled up about Layne. Fox couldn't tell, he'd have to ask Krystal later. Then something distracted Fox for a second. He looked closer. Little objects were collecting in formation around the planet. Lots of them. Lines started to connect between them.

"Fox! That look like some sort of huge shield," Slippy informed, "Will we be able to make it in time?!"

"I'm not sure Slip."

"Well we have to try," Falco said activating his boost, "It's the only chance we got!"

"Falco's right team! Full speed ahead!"

The whole team followed suit to Falco and activated their boosters. Their speed doubled. They closed in closer to the planet. But the shield was generating too fast. Fox watched in dismay as they got closer to the planet. The shield would be done before they got to it. Fox alerted the others.

"Were not going to make it! Pull back before it's too late!"

"Oh crap!"

The rest of the team, pulled out of their dive. Despite their speed, almost everyone pulled back fine, but Falco, who was ahead of the team, was in trouble. He pulled parallel to the shield, still trying to pull out of his descent into the planet. The shield closed around the right wing on his ship, ripping it off.

"Aww crud, that's not good." Falco pulled up next to the others. Krystal, who was closest, looked at the damage.

"True, it is bad, but worse, we can't get to the planet."

The team looked at the fantastic but terrible sight in front of them. The entire planet was surrounded by a green shield. Thousands of nodes had been launched by something and created a shield. It didn't look like a blaster shot would penetrate that shield.

"Rob, scan the shield. How powerful is it?" Fox waited impatiently for an answer.

"Analysis complete, the shield is too powerful for the Greatfox's guns to penetrate, and seems to be self charging."

Peppy spoke up for the first time in a while.

"Team, I suggest you all come back to the ship until we can formulate a plan. I don't think we can ram the Greatfox through the shield this time-…Wait…Sensors say there is a _huge_ flux forming near you location. And lots of them too. They seem to be gateways, or portals, I suggest you move just in case."

The team move back. The space in front of them seemed to rip and open. The hole widening more and more. The same thing was happening all around them. The team moved under one so they wouldn't collide with what ever was coming out.

They watched as a ship of gigantic proportion came out. At least 5 times the size of the Greatfox. It had a gold and bronze color, and had odd inscriptions on the side. The ship continued to pull out of the portal. It was long too, with a large turret on the underside. More of the same ship pulled out of the other portals, accompanied by smaller ships.

Fox's radio hissed and crackled as the computer struggled to connect to the connect to the foreign frequency.

"This……..army…….Move……out…..way…." the radio cut out again.

"Krystal, can you tell what they want?"

"Yes! They need us too move. But… Those ships, I recognize them…"

"Team, move back! We don't know what they're doing."

The 4 Arwings moved back. What they saw next was a sight to behold. Four of the massive ships moved right next to each other. The giant turrets underneath them rotated towards the shield surrounding the planet. Electricity sparked and swirled around them. A small, thin, red beam shot out of each one. They slowly swept across the shield, gaining intensity and size. They met at one point. All four beams tripled in size, becoming more intense. They were so bright; Fox had to look away from the amazing sight. The whole shield around the planet began to waver and shimmer. The beams grew even more powerful, the area around the contact point glowing with an orange tint. A small wine filled Fox's cabin in his Arwing. Some of the lights flickered on and off.

Just when it seemed like the entire universes was falling apart, the nodes holding the shield together exploded all at once. It was an amazing sight. Millions of small explosions surrounded the entire planet. The entire Starfox team was at a loss for words.

Krystal was silent for a different reason. She tried to say something, but she closed her mouth. She tried again but couldn't find the words. Fox noticed her strange behavior.

"Krystal, what's wrong?"

"I-…I recognize those-."

"Oh, I just got the frequency! We can talk now!" Slippy interrupted.

Then Fox knew why Krystal was shocked. The screen flickered as an image of a blue fox with a white symbol on the side of appeared. The vulpine spoke with an accent identical to Krystals.

"This is the Cerinian army, we are here to help with the battle!"

* * *

Okay, that's defininatly the lognest I've typed at once. I hope all my chapters are like this from now on.

See ya until next time.


	5. Chapter 5

All four heads snapped to attention across the radio feed.

Cerinia?

Krystal's home planet? It was destroyed. (?) She had not given them many details, and none of them pushed for them.

Fox swallowed and answered back, keeping an eye on the Cam-feed for Krystal's ship for a reaction from her. He saw none.

"Umm, could you repeat that?" Fox said in a wavering voice.

The blue fox in the screen raised an eyebrow, but he repeated the message anyways.

"This is the Cerinian army, we're here to assist with the battle. You did send a distress call. Correct?"

Fox shook his head.

"It was our Commander, General Pepper. But we need all the help we can get."

The blue fox nodded.

"I'll give you the frequency to our commander's ship. You can talk with him. Your whole team seems a bit confused at our appearance, except for one that is. But she is in more shock than you are."

Fox for a half a second was confused at his knowledge. But then he realized that all Cerinians must be telapathetic. He nodded and shut the transsmission down as he recieved the frequency.

"Krystal?" Fox said after the frequency dowload was complete.

Krystal nodded. She looked less in shock now, her face was taking on a more hopeful look.

"Are you all right? Do you need to head back to the ship?"

The whole team waited for her reaction. For a moment Fox though he was going to have to set her Arwing on auto-pilot back to the GreatFox. But then a sly smile started to break out her face.

"No, it's just that, _they're alive_! I had given it all up and... THEY'RE HERE!" She said, nearly squealing the last part in excitement. The whole team loosened at her reaction.

"So, you're gonna be alright to fight?" Slippy asked inoccently.

Krystal smiled even larger.

"Well of course! I've got to show how well I've done since I left. My father _is _the Commander after all."

* * *

This has been the first update in possibly, no, literally a year. Dang. That's not good perserverence. I was actually checking through all my old files cause I was bored when I found the originals. It all came back to me and I realized I want to continue this.

I look back at all my other chapters and at the end of each one it says how I'll add to this more frequently.

Funny how things work out. This is a short chapter, but I'm gonna add some more TODAY. No more putting it off.


	6. Chapter 6

This time it was the team who was shocked. Krystal laughed as she sensed thier emotions go haywire.

"Fox, you better get that frequency set up and call. I'll explain later," Krystal said, nearly laughing.

Fox just smiled and set the frequency up. As the frequency started to align itself with Fox's communication's, Fox took a breath and grew serious again.

Yes, Krystal's home planet wasn't destroyed and everyone was confused and giddy, but the capital was still under siege. It was time to get back to the battle.

The rest of the team saw Fox grow serious. They too got back in the war mindset as the all pulled together. The circled under one of the giant bronze war ships. Fox watched as the steel plates zipped by his windsheild. On closer inspection all the ships looked a little worn, weathered. However they gave off an aura of power and majesty. There size dwarfed any of the Cornerian ships.

The frequency finally aligned as the came out into a clear area of space in between two of the large ships. Fox spoke into his headset as his communication attempt was accepted.

"This is Fox of the Starfox mercenary team. We need to speak with the Commander, so we can lay out a plan."

The radio crackled, and a strange language flitted across it. Fox was a little confused. Krystal didn't speak a different language when they first met. But then again, she had also said her planet was destroyed.

The signal was then fully recieved. Another blue face appeared on the screen. He appeared much older than the rest, but Fox could tell that this guy was, well, 'da boss'. He was certain this was the commander.

The vulpine was a dark blue, unlike Krysta's light tone, and where there was supposed to be white, there was the tell-tale signs of grey fur. Fox also noticed a long thin scar running down the left side of his face, extending from the outside of his eye and to the bottom tip of his muzzle.

"What's your purpose here soldier?" the vulpine said, with an air of authority.

Fox swallowed at his tone. For once in his life, he actually felt a bit intimidated. It had to be with the way the Commander looked at him with, not blue, but grey eyes. As if he was seeing into Fox's soul, or something equally over-dramatic.

"My purpose here today is to regain freedom of Corneria and it's capital. And, also, to try and to defeat, what has been for quite awhile, a major pain in the ass for my friends and family," Fox asnwered, his additude showing a little at the end.

For a moment Fox thought the Commander was just gonna shut the communication down. But then, he felt something brush him. Not physicaly, but more mentaly, like a stray thought. Fox shook his head, and when he looked back at the screen, the blue face was smiling.

"Your purpose is well in value. State your plans. I am Commander Enix. You have a plan. Yes?" he said in a deep voice.

Fox did have a plan. It was simple. The Cornerians would be the inital assault, while Fox's crew would take on the capital.  
As they outlined the plans together (Slippy giving them the low down on the enemy, while Falco discussed tactics in the air, all on different frequencies), Fox couldn't help but to wonder why Krystal hadn't said anything. Or, why Commander Enix hadn't already picked up Krystal mind with his telepathy and realized it was his long lost daughter. Or, why he hadn't picked up from _Fox's _mind that it was his long lost daughter. But he didn't want to start an emotional reunion right here. There was a batlle going on.

"Sound like a reasonable plan," the commander said after the plan had been set out, "I'll retreive some escorts for you. I suppose the only thing to say now is good luck on your part of the mission and see you after it's all done."

"Thanks," Fox said, "Let's head out-"

"Oh, tell you group telepath that he or she can quit guarding you all's minds. We mean no harm," Commander Enix said before shutting the line.

Fox chuckled and guided his ship towards the atmospher of Corneria. The team followed.

"So Krys, were you doing that for the same reason I thought you were?" Fox asked.

Krystal nodded.

"Yes, it would be unwise to upset the commander of an army right now. Especially since I've been gone for quite some time."

"Would you like to sit this one out? You seem a little rattled." Fox said half teasing yet half serious.

Krystal rolled her eyes.

"I'll be perfectly fine. If anything I'll do better than normal. I don't need to screw up in front of my father."

"Alright-"

"Hey Krys," Falco said interrupting Fox, "Wasn't your home planet destroyed? That's-"

"Yeah!" Slippy said, Falco being the interrupted one, "What's going on?"

Fox interceeded before anyone else could say anything.

"Look, I'm sure Krystal will answer the questions later. But right now we're fixing to retake the capitol. That means going on foot, so focus. Slippy, please tell me you have the mobile armory with you."

Slippy nodded.

"Good. Then let's get in there and get something done. Peppy, you there?"

Peppy's voice came over the intercom.

"I'm here Fox. And so is this Layne character. He's eating everything out of the fridge."

"Huh, sorry about that," Fox answered, still not remembering Layne completley, "But listen. Me and Falco are gonna head in and see if the General is okay in the Capitol. Krystal and Slippy will be providing cover from outside. Which of course mean your gonna need to airdrop some Landmasters..."

* * *

Alright, there it is. Longest chapter, I worked hard on it, took parts out, and blah blah blah blah blah.

I made it where their vehicals get airdropped it. I always thought the warp thing for the Landmasters was always a little hokey.

Speaking of Starfox, I heard they might be making a new one.

Quote from Wikipedia:

edit _Star Fox_ (Wii)

So far, there has been mention of a _Star Fox_ game for Wii, but there is no confirmation that such a game is currently in development. Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto has suggested the Wii Remote would work really well for controlling an Arwing,6 while series designer Takaya Imamura has also said he has some ideas for a sequel.7

* * *

I hope it's better than the last three. It wasn't that they sucked, it's just they didn't have great gameplay or story compared to the old ones. And the graphics aren't thirdGen either.

All I'm saying, it's gonna take a publisher with some reall balls to make this next game work out.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

"Alright, are you two ready?" Fox asked Krystal and Slippy. They both nodded. They were waiting for the Landmaster tanks to arrive.

Outside the wall of the capital courtyard where the team had landed was a mess. Wrecked cars and rubble scattered the street of Corneria. It was obvious from the noises from inside the capital that Andrew's forces had penetrated and were fighting the capitals remaining security and employees.

The Cerinian troops were giving the enemy hell in the air, so they needed to hurry and get their part done. But enemy troops were guarding the courtyard with scattered anit-aircraft and Flak9 guns. They were really meant for tanks and airships, but it didn't take much to point an AA cannon toward the ground, and the Flak9s would be a definite problem even with tanks. The Flak9s were powerful anti-tank weapons, usually used for more long range attacks, so they took a while to load. So a tank could dodge the foot wide slugs with the right timing. But the land masters hadn't even arrivied yet...

"Look, there they are!" Falco said pointing.

Fox followed his wing and spotted them. They were about a thousand feet and coming down fast towards the street. The tanks were literally dropped from the ship without anything to slow them down. If they had paracutes, it would make them a slow, easy target to shoot down. Instead, thay had shield systems that would activate right before impact.

"Uhh, Fox? When was the last time the Airdrop Sequencer calibrated?" Falco asked questioningly.

Fox shrugged as he started to walk towards Slippy's arwing for the Mobile Artillery pack. Then the comprehension of what Falco said hit him.

He gulped.

"I...don't know. Why?" he said turning towards Falco.

Falco said one word.

"RUN!!"

Fox looked up in horror as the whole team started to backpedal towards the buildings. The two landmaster tanks were a mere hundred yards away, hurtiling towards them at over ninety miles an hour. . Before Fox could say or think anything the tanks' sheilds activated as they hit the ground.

The first one missed the Arwings and smashed into the road and flipped once, then twice, leaving giant craters in the ground before landing securely in the rubble of a destroyed building a block away.

The second one landed, however, drectly on Slippy's arwing, slicing it in half before smashing against Fox's, clipping half of the left wing off and knocking it off it's support legs.. The three ton machine came to rest a half a block away in the road, closer than the first one since it had some, well, "assistance".

"What? How-... Awww, you gotta be kidding me!" Slippy moaned as he ran to the remains of his ship. Fox was at a loss for words at the terrible airdrop as he ran to his ship.

His heart lifted as he saw that most of the damage was superficial other than the wing. He punched a few commands in his wrist communicator and the ship re-righted itself, a few spare sparks flying from the busted wing.

Fox turned to Slippy's ship. At least half of it anyways. Fox walked over and found Slippy pullling some supplies out of the remains of the cockpit. Fox's sensitive ears could pick up some mumbling that was a little uncharacteristic of the toad.

"Stupid venom soldiers...grr...gonna rip their faces off...my arwing friggen' trashed...gonna trash them..."

He stopped his grumbling as Fox got closer and blushed a little.

"Oh, Fox...Heh. Just salvaging what I can. I think Krystal ran off for the Landmaster in the rubble over there, I'll take this one over here...And, uhh, your weapons are in the back half of my ship, or what's left of it anyways," Slippy said, mumbling the last bit.

Fox couldn't help but to laugh a little and the poor guy.

"Sorry about the ship pal. But you give them hell in that Landmaster," Fox said starting to run to the back half of the ship,"Remember, radio me once you're ready to go."

Fox reached the wreck to find Falco trying to pry open the dented rear compartment. Fox lent a paw and together they pulled the Mobile artillery pack from the remains of Slippy's arwing. It looked nothing more that a large, black trunk, but inside was an arsenal of some of the most state of the art weaponry . Fox threw open the lid and started handing out the weapons.

"Alright, here's my Blaster, and here's one for you. I'll take the gatling, you can take the machine gun and the sniper-"

"Whoa wait a minute," Falco interuptted as more explosions sounded from the capital courtyard,"Why do you get the gatling gun?"

Fox rolled his eyes. Was Falco really going to argure about it right now?

"Because there's gonna be civillians in there. And, you plus gatling gun equals lots of damage. This is the capital, and I think they want to be able to use it after this is all done."

Falco just shrugged and grabbed the machine gun.

"Whatever, you're the boss. But you take the sniper rifle. You know I suck at that."

Fox just sighed and strapped it to his back. He then hoisted the gatling gun out of the trunk and looked towards the road where he was greated by two ready to go Landmasters.

"Were all ready Fox," Slippy voiced over the com.

Fox nodded and motioned for him and Falco to move to the side walk, where the high walls of the courtyard were. The tanks followed close behind, their steel treads crunching shattered glass in the streets.

"I guess we're gonna have to go through the main gate," Fox said on the radio, "These walls look a little high, and I don't think me and Falco would be able to hang on to the Landmasters long enough so-"

"I got an idea," Slippy interupted over the com-link. He moved his tank ahead of Fox and pulled parrallel to the wall.

"Alright, Krys, get ready to provide fire and cover. You two guys take cover behing her so she can get you all to the capital in one piece. Look out, I don't know if this is gonna work really..."

"Wow, that's a good idea Slippy," Krystal said reading into his thoughts. Fox pushed the ear piece on his com into his ear more, not sure if he had missed something.

"Wait, what's he gonna do?" Fox asked asked.

But before Krystal had a chance to explain (Fox thought it was odd how things always worked out like that), Slippy pulled a move none of them had seen before. Using the Dodge move on the tank, he flipped the Landmaster sideways into the wall, the blow shaking the whole wall.

The ground shook as the Landmaster settled back on its treaded wheels. Fox grinned ruthlessly at the ingenious move a Slippy again rolled into the side of the wall.

The wall sprouted a huge crack as he hit it a third time.

"Alright team," Fox said into the com-link, "This one ought to do it. Slippy, as soon as you bust through, make a bee-line for the capital and we'll take cover behind you. Krystal, you'll have no problem with the Flak9s. On the ready team!"

Slippy rolled the tank a final time and as he crashed completley throught it Krystal was right behind him as the whole team moved forward into the main courtyard.

As the dust cleared the whole team was already moving. Fox could hear yells and alarms going off.

"Alright team, they know we're here. Let's move it!" Fox yelled as weapon fire started to fly towards them.

Slippy pulled his tank up along side of them, protecting them from the weapon fire. As they ran toward the main capital sevaral explosions shook the ground. Fox jerked his head in anxiety. But as soon as he saw what had happened he laughed out loud.

Krystal was busy pissing Andrew's men off. With her sixth sense she was dodging the shots from the Flak9s with amazing accuracy, much to the enemy's dismay. So much in fact, one team had gotten frustrated and had jumped the gun on the firing and had taken out one of thier own AA guns.

Fox turned and sprinted the remaining meters to the main building as Krystal dodged another shot and fired at the same time.

"Wow Fox, I'm really making these people mad. Heh, it's kinda sad really..."

"Okay Fox are you guys set?" Slippy said as they reached the building.

Fox looked for an entrance and found an emergency exit. He ran over to it and tried to kick it in. The door shudderd, but didn't open.

"Uhh, almost Slippy," Fox answered anfter Falco started trying to kick it in, "Want to do us one more favor? Open this door."

"Sure thing."

Slippy rotated his tank towards the door as Falco moved out of the way. Once again, Slippy didn't pull the obvious and blast the door away. Instead, he moved foward and knocked the door of its hinges with his turret.

"Figured you could use a quite entrance. See ya around," Slippy said as he rode off to take out the troops outside along with Krystal.

Fox walked into the hallway with Falco close behind. He looked around and was amused to find this section of the building absolutley untouched. The white hallway was spotless and all the office doors were shut and quiet.

"Dang, it's a little quiet in here," Falco whispered as they walked down the hallway, "Hope that doesn't mean we're too late."

Fox didn't say anything. His sensitive ears were picking up some voices further down the hallway. He pressed two furred fingers aginst his lips as they reached a corner. Falco nodded in acknowlegement and grew silent. Fox strained to pick up the conversation.

"-not that many places they can hide Captain, I say they've high-tailed it."

"You may be right, but keep your opinions to yourself. We don't do anything else untill Andrew says so. So shut up and quit whining. And besides, I think they're somewhere in this stupid building. Only God knows they've planned for something like this and have a few hiding spots. Just stick the objective."

"Yes sir, but I wish we had more with us. It's just me, you, and Jake, and he's only good at blowing stuff up."

Who Fox assumed was Jake spoke up,

"He's right. I'm just here to blow doors open."

And with that a small explosion sounded some yells were heard. Fox then sprinted around the corner towards the blown open door. He stopped and listened some more.

"Where is the General?" The captian yelled. A gibbering chorus of "I don't knows" and "Please don't kill us" followed. The captain snorted in disgust.

"Useless. Next room." He ordered.

Fox looked at Falco. He was ready with the machine gun and was kneeling in the middle of the hall way. Fox unstraped the gatling gun from his back.

The captain walked out first, unsuspecting and still disgusted with the whining creatures behind him. Fox swung the gatling gun straight down and knocked him out cold. He ran foward and in the same movement yanked the second soldier out of doorway and threw him to the groundkeeping his gun trained on him.

The captain was a horse, and was currently starting to come around. The one Fox had pinned to the ground was a rather large moutain lion.

The last one Fox had to assume was Jake. And just by the looks of him you could tell he was speaking the truth when he said he was only good a blowing stuff up. He was a green, scrawny lizard and was scared stiff.

"Hey pal," Falco said, keeping his gun trained on the reptile, "Wanna help us out here?"

The lizard got of his initial shock of seeing his whole team disarmed in front of his eyes and blinked.

"Uhh, hehe, no!" He said sprinting backwards back into the room.

Fox growled and ran into the room. In the far corner of the room the lizard was standing there, a grenade in one hand, and a small female hare in the other.

"Make another move and this poor baby's going down, plus everyone else in this room. Did you really think you could just walk in here and ruin things like you always do? This ain't no air fight-"

Before the lizard could monolouge any further the "poor baby" made her own moves. She ripped the grenade out of the lizards claws in one quick movement and elbowed him in the gut. Jake released his hold to try and catch his breath. The hare swung around round house kicked the would-be grenader in his jaw. He droped to the floor without a sound.

Fox chuckled. The hare turned and smiled.

"That was... fun. Nice to see you again Fox."

Fox nodded.

"Hey Lucy. Wish I could say the same about being here."

Lucy laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so. Umm, here, you take this," she said handing the grenade to Fox. The pin was out, so it was live. Fox looked at LUcy a nodded.

"Alright, you hang low and just make sure that guy doesn't cause anymore trouble. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where the ape is would you?"

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"He's in the confrence room about to make a speech on the news. The guys an ego-maniac. You should take him out halfway through his speech just to mess him up."

This time Fox rolled his eyes.

"That guy is ridiculous. Oh well. This'll be over before you know it. See ya around."

Lucy nodded and walked over to the lizard and started unhooking the reptile's explosives.  
Fox walked out of the room.

"Hey Fox, what exactly are we going to do with these guys?" Falco said as Fax returned. Fox just shrugged.

"Stun them I guess. I don't really care. Kill them if you want to," Fox said flatly. He didn't really mean it. But it was a little part he always liked to add.

Falco smiled and the horse and mounatian lion grimaced. Falco flipped a swith on his blaster and shot them both in the chest. The beam was blue, a stun beam.

"I'm such a nice guy," Falco said as they walked down the hall. Fox rolled his eyes and coughed.

Falco saw him.

"You know what, one of these days you're gonna say that and I'm just gonna blow them away. And you'll be standing there ot knowing what to think."

Fox chuckled.

"Alright, if you say so. Let's just find the confrence room. We need to bring the ape down once and for all. I've got a plan."

* * *

Here you go. Though this is the longest chapter I think there are some very incomplete parts in it. I don't know why. It just feels like it.

Tell me what you think and all that stuff. I'll be listening. I'll be honest and say right now I have no idea what Fox's plans are, other than the fact that he's got some.

Funny how stuff works out like that huh?


End file.
